The newest, youngest USC quarterback was not to be called John. Or Johnny. That was his father. Not David. Definitely not J.D.

He was John David to his mother and the rest of his family. He was John David to teammates and other friends. So he would be John David as a Trojan.

That was not quite four years and two months ago when he arrived on our shores, living for a while with his older brother in Hermosa Beach.

You now know John David Booty.

You know he’s the quarterback at USC, which is ranked No. 1 in the nation.

You know he came off back surgery to lead the Trojans to an 11-2 record last season. They were seven points shy of a 13-0 season.

You also know Booty is a prime Heisman Trophy candidate.

How many times has he been asked about the Heisman Trophy?

“Just about everybody I’ve talked to has asked about it,” he said.

He was grinning.

“That’s good,” he said.

Bad would be reporters not caring enough to talk to him. Bad would be not being up to the assignment at USC, which would mean he would not be the starting quarterback, which would mean Booty and Heisman would never be in the same sentence.

There was an early opportunity to begin developing a scouting report, watching him in July 2003 watch his new teammates go 7-on-7 twice against El Camino College, watching him interact with his new teammates, and on another day with outstanding high school and college quarterbacks at the EA Elite 11 passing camp, spending time with him during an extended interview.

Booty was a composed, mature, humble young man. Brash and rash were not part of his makeup.

His arm?

During warm-ups, he displayed a quick, easy, efficient delivery. Good mechanics. Accurate. Tight spirals. If you have enough seniority, visualize Dan Fouts, only thicker in the shoulders. Or Dan Marino. Or in the USC history book, Paul McDonald with more zip on the ball.

Booty would spend three years as, basically, an intern. He watched while quarterback Matt Leinart and tailback Reggie Bush each won the Heisman.

Now it could be his turn.

“You never know what’s going to happen,” he said.

What has happened at the start of the season against undermanned Idaho and there-goes-our-No. 14-ranking Nebraska is the USC offense has been on cruise control much of the time.

What also has happened is young receivers have had difficulty with route recognition and have had passes bounce out of their hands.

So it is that Booty’s numbers are far from gaudy.

Be assured this is not keeping him awake at night. He remains composed, mature and humble. When the conversation returns to the Heisman, as it invariably does, he all but shrugs.

“I’m honored to be mentioned with some of those great players,” he said. “But it’s not something that I’m worried about or thinking about.”

That’s how he’s wired.

Nothing has changed from ’03, when he said, “I just want to help SC win.”

His teammates have voted him one of their co-captains two years in a row, which is an indication the comment is genuine.

“How much do you want to put your stamp on the program?” a reporter asked.

He flipped the question over, responding about the team.

“We want to be remembered for great things as well,” he said.

But about the Heisman?

USC coach Pete Carroll wants his quarterback to think of himself as a point guard who distributes the ball to players who then do their thing to win games.

That has been the story in the first two games.

USC has distributed the ball repeatedly to the running backs because Carroll wanted to test, challenge and learn about them as well as about an offensive line that went into the season a work in progress. A lot, all good, was learned about the offensive line when it worked over Nebraska.

The result has been 527 yards rushing.

Booty has passed for a mere 350 yards, an average of 175 yards a game, which is quite a drop from his 257 yards a game last season.

His arm is as strong and accurate as ever with better touch than when he arrived. He is completing 64.5 percent of his passes. He has thrown five touchdown passes against only one interception.

There is reason to suspect he will be asked to air out the ball during the tough Pacific-10 Conference season. There also is reason to suspect he is ready to put his stamp on the USC program and perhaps, just perhaps, on the Heisman Trophy.

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